Broken Strings
by MyMessyLittleRaindrops
Summary: When the team are called in to work on a previously unsolved case, Reid suddenly goes AWOL, but why? When the rest of the team find out, they feel under great pressure to solve the case, knowing Reid's emotional state is at stake.
1. Up All Night

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds and all characters and recognisable themes belong to the respected creators.

* * *

><p><strong>Broken Strings<strong>

**Up All Night:**

'Okay, so, who's up for going out tonight? I think we deserve it, I mean, that was a pretty hard case and I wasn't even there!', Garcia said, as she and the rest of the team were leaving the BAU building that Friday evening.

'I'm up for it', said Emily, looking quite relieved to have something else to focus on other than what she had seen on this particularly brutal case.

'Me too', piped in JJ, liking arms with Emily as they stepped outside, in an attempt to protect them both from the biting cold wind.

'You know I'm always up for a night out babygirl', Morgan said, wrapping his arm around Garcia and pulling her closer to him, a big grin on his face.

Garcia was giggling as she said, 'Okay, so who does that still leave for me to attempt to get drunk?'.

'Well, we know Hotch won't be coming, I think he practically lives here you know', said Emily looking back at the building to their boss's window, where, inside, the light was shining brightly as usual.

'Gideon definetely won't come - I actually don't ever remember him coming out with us unless it's to some fancy restaurant. I guess getting drunk on a Friday night just isn't his thing', JJ pointed out.

'Okay, so that leaves, Pretty Boy', Morgan clarified, looking over to Reid, who was walking slightly behind them, his head in a book.

Garcia lent round Emily and JJ to face the youngest member of the team.

'Reid? You coming?'.

Reid looked up at his friends, seeming slightly put-out as Garcia had interrupted him whilst he was reading; 'Uh, I'll meet you guys there, I have to go home first, I'm expecting a call'.

This didn't surprise the team; Reid always went home after a case. They assumed he was calling his mother, who he didn't get to see often, but none of them had ever actually questioned him about this, knowing that Reid kept his personal life very private, which the team respected, even if he did sometimes intrigue them.

Garcia, Morgan, JJ and Emily all got into Garcia's car and headed straight for the club, whilst Reid wandered over to his own car, still reading.

'Uh, Spence? Don't forget to put your book down so you can actually drive?', JJ called to him, a smile on her face. Reid gave her a small smile back whilst he put his book in the glove compartment, before driving off back to his apartment.

'Okay, who's ready to partaaay?', yelled Morgan, whilst the other team members laughed as they drove off in the direction of the club.

* * *

><p>Garcia and Morgan were already on their second round of shots by the time Reid arrived at the very lively nightclub.<p>

'Here'; Morgan pushed one of the small glasses towards the young genius as soon as he sat down.

'Uhh, maybe I could start with something slightly less strong?', Reid said, looking unsure as he eyed the shot in front of him.

'No way', said Garcia, a determined look on her face. 'You turn up late, this is your punishment, now drink!'

The others all watched as Reid reluctantly downed the drink, his face screwing up as it hit the back of his throat.

'What was in that?', Reid exclaimed, looking horrified.

JJ leaned in towards Reid, murmuring,'We've no idea, I had one and felt physically sick, so I don't think I wanna know'. She, Emily and Reid all watched as Morgan and Garcia ordered yet another round of shots at the bar.

'Oookaaay', said Emily standing up and turning to Reid and JJ, 'Whilst these two might want to get completely wasted, I don't think it would be good if we all turned up with a hangover tomorrow morning. So, what can I get you?'

'I'll have a white wine', said JJ.

'A lager please', said Reid.

'Right, so that's two white wines and lager, I'll be right back', Emily was heading towards the bar and laughed quietly to herself, shaking her head as she just managed to hear Garcia complain that she, JJ and Reid were boring for not getting completely hammered.

Not surprisingly, the evening ended with JJ and Emily half-carrying Garcia to their car to give her a lift home, after she had passed out as soon as she was off the dance floor. Reid was still trying to pull Morgan away, feeling very uncomfortable around the girls he was attempting to dance with.

'We'll see you tomorrow morning!', Emily called back to him.

'And good luck!', JJ added, motioning to Morgan.

'Thanks!', Reid replied sarcastically as he finally managed to pull Morgan away and towards his car.

* * *

><p>The next morning, Garcia dragged herself into the BAU room and slumped into a chair, after Hotch had called them in early to work on a case. Morgan was in a similar state - his head was resting on the table and he was wincing at every loud sound that was made. Luckily for JJ, and Emily, paracetomol tablets had managed to numb their headaches, but they couldn't help but feel sorry for their fellow team mates. However, Gideon was watching the whole facade with an rather amused look on his face. A few seconds after Garcia had arrived, Hotch entered the room and walked to the board, a stern look on his face.<p>

Noticing the state of the technical analyst, he loudly said 'Uh, Garica! Do you have those case notes I asked for?'

Garcia suddenly sat up, as did Morgan, looking slightly flustered as she nervously said, 'Yes sir, they're here', as she handed out the files to everyone.

'Where's Reid?', Morgan inquired, looking around the room, just as the youngest member of the BAU entered the room, a troubled look on his face.

'Sorry I'm late', he murmered quietly, looking down and taking his seat at the table.

'Hey, you okay?', JJ whispered, leaning over to him, a concerned look on her face.

'What?', said Reid, as he was pulled out of his thoughts. 'Oh yeah, I'm fine', he gave her a small smile and then turned to the case notes.

'Okay, now we're all here, we need to get started on this case. It'll probably be a familiar case to most of you but as Emily wasn't here when we first worked on it, I'll quickly summarise it. About two years ago, five young girls all went missing. They were all 16 with dark blonde hair and brown eyes. They were taken from completely different locations in Atlanta, but each was found in a dumpster, 24 hours after they went missing with three lacerations on their abdomens. We weren't able to find the unsub, but recently in Surrey in the UK, there have been three girls with the same descriptions as these girls reported missing and then found dead.', Hotch said, with a grave expression.

'Hold on a second. This is in the UK, how do we know they're connected?', asked Emily, who looked confused.

'The MO is exactly the same, the lacerations are there and the UK authorities have asked us to step in', Hotch replied. 'The reason I asked you all to come in is that a fourth girl was reported missing almost an hour ago. Her name is Emma Johnson and she apparently left for school this morning but never got there.'

A picture of a young, smiling girl appeared on the screen as Hotch was speaking. As soon as this picture was shown, Reid sat up in his seat, his face turning very pale; he looked horrified and like he might collapse. The team didn't notice his reaction until they heard him utter, 'Em'. They all turned around to look at him, confused, as Reid shot up from his seat and ran from the room before anyone could comprehend what was happening.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Okay, I know this chapter is a bit confusing but don't worry, all will be revealed in the next chapter! It's not very long because I just needed an introduction to the story, but I plan to make future chapters a bit longer. Please review because I'd love to know your thoughts!


	2. Last To Know

**Last To Know:**

_Reid'd POV:_

I'm running, I don't know quite where yet, but I just know I have to find her, to save her. I have to...I have to save her, she needs me. Oh God, this is all my fault! All my fault...all my fault...

* * *

><p>'Okay, what the hell was that all about?', Morgan wondered aloud, watching, like the other members of the team, the open door which Reid had just stormed through moments before.<p>

'I have absolutely no idea', replied JJ, a very confused and worried look on her face.

'He said Em', murmered Gideon, drawing all attention to himself. He was sat, staring off into space, clearly deep in thought, a slight frown on his face.

'What?', whispered Garcia.

'He said Em', Gideon said, louder this time. He sat up and looked round at his team mates. 'As soon as the picture of the latest victim came up', he gestured towards the image of the young girl, which was still on the screen.

'So, he has a connection to this victim?', Emily asked.

'A pretty strong one at that, if just that picture was enough to make him leave without explaining himself', Morgan added.

'Okay, so we find out if he has a connection to this victim, it might actually help the case. Garcia, can you...?', Hotch said.

'On it!', Garcia interrupted already getting up from her seat and running to the tech room, the rest of the team following quickly behind her.

She sat down at her chair and began quickly typing away at her computer, JJ and Emily watching on anxiously, whilst Morgan was leaning against the wall, his eyes closed in frustration.

'Okay, so I'm doing a background check on Emma Johnson. Let's see...Okay, so she was adopted when she was six months old by a couple from England - Julie and Harry Johnson.', Garcia informed them, still typing away furiously.

'_From_ England? What, suggesting she wasn't born there?', Emily asked Garcia.

'Ummm..one second.., yep, she adopted from Las Vegas, Nevada', Garcia replied.

'That's where Reid was born. Check who her birth parents are', Hotch told Garcia.

'Yes sir, I'm searching now for her original birth certificate - her current one has her adopted parents on, so I can't get anything from that...Oh God', Garcia whispered, a look of horror on her face.

Morgan quickly walked over to her desk, leaning over Garcia's shoulder, whilst Hotch and Gideon both turned towards the computer, looks of anxious anticipation on their faces.

'What?', JJ asked, leaning closer towards Garcia.

'Her birth parents...they're Diana and William Reid. She's Reid's little sister', Garcia announced, her voice barly audible from the shock.

'WHAT?', Morgan shouted, causing the other members to jump. 'Why didn't he tell us about this? His little sister?'. He had a hurt look on his face, and he was feeling almost betrayed.

'Reid's never been very open about his private life - can you tell me you're actually surprised about this?', Gideon asked him.

'Okay, so I can understand why he may not tell us the little things about his life, but something as big as having a sister?', Morgan continued pacing up and down the small room, almost like he hadn't heard Gideon speak at all.

'Morgan, Morgan! Calm down', Hotch told him, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

Morgan stopped pacing, but still appeared unhappy.

'The most important thing right now is finding Emma', he told the team. 'First things first - Garcia, can you check Reid's credit cards, we're assuming he's already on his way to England, but I just want to check'.

'Okay, looking now', said Garcia, turning back to her computer. 'Yep, he made a transaction 10 minutes ago for a plane ticket to London.'

'So Reid's already on his way and we need to be too. Garcia, you're coming with us. Reid's going to need all the moral support he can get. I've already ordered a jet to take us there - wheels up in 20 minutes', Hotch told his team as everyone quickly got up to go and retrieve their belongings.

* * *

><p>'Okay team, we need to get started. I know we don't have much for to work on until we arrive in England, but we can at least look at Emma's background information to see if we can add to the profile - the unsub knew the FBI were involved with the previous killings, so he probably knows Emma's connection to Reid - looking at her background history could help us.' Hotch announced, breaking the silence on the plane; they had only been traveliing for 10 minutes, but it already felt like hours.<p>

'Well, from looking at her case files written by her social workers, William sent Diana the adoption papers for Emma three weeks after he left - it was the last connection Emma, Diana and Spencer had with him', Garcia told the team, reading through several pieces of paper she had printed off.

'She was adopted almost immediately by the Johnsons and hasn't had any connection with either of her birth parents since', Prentiss said, who was also flicking through the papers.

'So, we're assuming Emma didn't know she'd been adopted?', Gideon said.

'Wait, hang on a minute', interrupted Morgan, who was holding a piece of paper in his hand. 'She must've known - it says here that when Reid was 18 he got in touch with the Johnsons because he wanted to see Emma. Since then, he's made regular visits to see her in England, and they speak on the phone almost every day. According to what her social worker says, they get on really well and Emma always looks forward to his visits.'

'Wow', murmered JJ, drawing all attention to herself. 'What? I just guess I can't really see Reid as the older brother type.'

'There's a lot of things we don't know about Reid', Gideon said quietly.

'But we do know one thing', Prentiss said, 'He has to be terrified for his sister right now - I mean, she went missing about an hour ago, adding on the nine hour flight, by the time we get there, we're only gonna have 14 hours to find her.'

'It's gonna be tough', Hotch said.

'But we're gonna find her', Morgan said fiercly, 'For Reid'.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong> Okay, so the big secret's been revealed! Now the race is on - can the team find Emma in time? Don't worry - they'll definetely be more chapters soon and they will be longer (I've already planned what I'm going to put in each chapter, so I know future chapters will be longer, I just needed a bit of an introduction to the story, which is these first two chapters). I was also thinking of doing some more of the chapter's from Reid's POV, or at least parts of them - what do you think? Is it a good idea or not? Thank-you so much to everyone who favourited/reviewed the story or put it on alert - it means so much to me and I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter, so please review! Thanks again :)


	3. Walking on Eggshells

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds and all characters and recognisable themes belong to the respected creators.

* * *

><p><strong>Walking on Eggshells:<strong>

'He's still not answering his phone', Morgan said, sounding worried.

'Maybe he's still on the flight?', JJ said.

'He can't be, he's got to be in England by now. He's probably just forgotten to switch his phone back on, what with everything that's going on', Prentiss added, mirroring JJ's worried expression. Garcia, seeing this, leant over and took both of their hands in her own.

'Come on guys, we have to stay strong, or we're never going to find Emma. I know it's horrible to think how much pain Reid's gotta be going through right now, but just think how much worse he'll be if we don't find her', Garcia said quietly, surprising both her teammates and herself, as it wasn't usually like Garcia to be the emotionally strong member of the group.

At that moment, they all turned when they heard Hotch, who had been on the phone to the English police who were working on the case, snap his phone shut and walk towards them.

'Okay, so here's the plan: Jason, you, me and Garcia are gonna head straight over to the police station, to talk over the case with the detectives and so that Garcia can set up there. JJ, Prentiss and Morgan, here's the Johnson's address - take a look around Emma's room, see if you can find anything that might distinguish her from the other missing girls or if there's anything that seems at all unusual. JJ, I've also given the police your number so they're able to contact you if they find anything else', he told them.

'Remember - try and keep your head clear, like with any other case. Just forget that we only have 14 hours to find her, or that she's Reid little sister, just focus on the case', Gideon reminded them.

'Easier said than done', Morgan muttered under his breath.

* * *

><p>Heathrow airport was bustling with people and the team were struggling to make it through the airport with all their luggage. Unfortunately, the long flight had ignited both Morgan and Garcia's headaches again, and the large crowds were causing both of their head's to start throbbing painfully. Once the team had finally managed to escape from the airport, they discovered that outside was not much better - just after their flight had landed, snow had begun to fall on England and already there was a thick layer of it building up on the road. As the snow swirled thickly around them, and the team was shivering whilst waiting for taxi's to arrive to take them to their two destinations, Prentiss asked,<p>

'What do we do about Reid? Where do you think he'll be?'.

'He'll probably want to throw himself into the case as much as he can. You know Reid, he doesn't like to feel helpless. My bets are, he'll probably be at the police station', Gideon replied.

'And if he's not?', Garica asked worriedly.

'Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it', Hotch told her, but seeing Garcia about to protest he added, 'Don't worry, if he's not at the police station or at the Johnson's house, I officially give you permission to start a search party.'

Looking slightly more satisifed, Garcia sat back down on her bright pink suitcase. The wind meant that the team almost didn't catch what JJ said next.

'You don't think he'll do anything stupid, do you?', she whispered quietly, not looking directly at anyone.

Suddenly Morgan stood up and grabbed onto JJ's shoulders.

'Don't...just don't say that, not ever. He won't, I know Reid, he wouldn't do that to us', he said, looking fiercly into JJ's eyes, shaking her slightly.

'Morgan...', Hotch began, before they all turned when they heard a car beep it's horn right behind them. Waiting there, was two black cabs. One of the driver's stuck his head out of the window and said in a strong London accent,

'Taxis for the FBI?'.

Gideon stepped forward, 'Yes, that's us', as he began to pick up his travel bag.

The taxi driver laughed as he said, 'The guns sort of gave it away', as both he and the other cabbie got out of their taxi's and helped the team to unload their luggage. As Hotch and Gideon stepped into one taxi, and JJ and Prentiss clambered into the other, Morgan turned to Garcia, and enveloped her into a tight hug.

'Don't worry babygirl, we'll find them both, okay?', he whispered into her ear.

'Yeah', said Garcia shakily, as she pulled out of the hug.

'Call me if you need me alright?', Morgan called to her, to which Garcia nodded, as they both got into the seperate taxis and were whisked away from the busy airport.

* * *

><p>Surrey's police station was on the corner of a long, main road, on which the traffic had been so bad because of the snow, that Hotch, Gideon and Garcia had considered getting out of the taxi and walking to the station, but the thought of having to drag their suitcases and other luggage in the biting cold wind had kept them in their seats. When they had finally made it through the door of the station, flakes of snow in their hair and on their clothes, there were immediately approached by a plump policeman, wearing a black uniform.<p>

'Quantico's Behavioural Analysis Unit?', he asked them, as he reached fowards to shake all of their hands.

'Yes, I'm SSA Hotchner, this is Senior SSA Jason Gideon and Penelope Garcia', Hotch replied, motioning to his fellow team members.

'Thank-you so much for coming, if you'll follow me please', the policeman said, leading them to a small room at the back of the station, that consisted of a large pinboard, a whiteboard and a table and chairs, 'You can set up here'.

'Thank-you', Hotch said, then, seeing Garcia give him a look that said 'Go on!', he added, 'Um detective, you haven't by any chance seen Dr Spencer Reid have you? We assumed he'd be here, we know that Emma's his sister and he'll want to work on the case'.

The detective's face paled slightly and his expression was a grave one. 'D-Did no-one tell you the latest news?'.

'What latest news?', Garcia asked, her voice sounding slightly frantic.

'About half an hour ago, one of our officers found blood, a lot of it. We identified it as Emma's and when we told your colleague, he just ran from the building and nobody's seen him since, we assumed he was with you', the detective said quietly.

'What?', Garcia shrieked, her expression becoming that of extreme panic.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, Gideon said, 'Garcia, please, remember what I said, we have to stay calm'. Then, turning to the detective, he asked, 'You said you found blood - how much?'.

The detective sighed, before replying; 'A lot. We got a doctor to look at it, and he said that there's still a chance that Emma could be alive, but, because she lost so much blood, there's no chance that she's gonna last 14 hours. So, if we want to find her alive, we're gonna have to find her soon'.

A look of panic quickly crossed Hotch's face, before his regained his composure and said matter-of-factly, 'Where did you find the blood?'.

'It was spread from the Odeon Cinema that Emma passes on her way to school, down a dark alleyway, but then the trail just stops completely. Not even a drop from that point onwards, even in the snow', the detective said roughly.

'Okay, we're gonna need to go to where the blood was found, but first we need to contact the rest of our team. Is it okay if we call you when we're ready?', Hotch asked.

'Of course, whatever you need', the detective said, walking from the room, quietly closing the door behind him. As soon as he had left, Garcia quickly opened her phone and called Morgan, putting the phone on speaker so both Hotch and Gideon could hear too. The phone only rang once before Morgan picked up, sounding concerned.

'Babygirl is everything okay?', he asked urgently.

'N-not really', Garcia replied, her voice shaking heavily.

'Morgan you're on speaker, put your phone on speaker too, I need to talk to everyone', Gideon told him, his voice authorative.

'Hey guys, what's up?', Prentiss asked.

'We have a problem', Hotch began. He took a deep breath, and then continued, 'About half an hour ago, one of the police department found a lot of Emma's blood. There's a chance she could still be alive, but there's no way she could last 14 hours if she is, so we need to find her quickly.'

'WHAT?', Morgan yelled down the phone, slight hysteria in his voice. Although none of them had ever met Emma, or known about her until a few hours ago, it was clear just how much she meant to Reid and they felt a responsibility to bring her back to him alive, but this was becoming a harder task by the minute.

'Was there ever any blood found with any of the other victims?', Prentiss asked.

'No', murmered Gideon, who was sounding the most calm of them all, 'The unsub's becoming more confident, more vicious, this is the kill he's been waiting for.'

'So you think she's already dead?', asked JJ.

'No, if this is the kill he's been waiting for, he's still gonna spread it out over a certain period of time', Gideon replied.

'Yeah, but how long? How much time do we have?', Morgan asked, his breathing very erratic.

'I'd say around a couple of hours', Gideon replied.

'Wait, what about Reid? Is he with you? Is he okay?', JJ asked, her voice suddenly full of concern.

'No, he's not here. The detective said he just dissapeared after he found out about Emma's blood being found.', Gideon replied.

'Oh God', Prentiss sighed.

'Should we send someone out to look for him? You know, in case, he does something stupid, we don't know how Reid usually handles things like this?', Garcia whispered, as if scared of the team's reaction.

'No, not yet', Gideon was the first to reply, 'We'll wait to see if turns up here or at the Johnson's house. If we haven't seen him in an hour, then we can start to panic'. Seeing that Garcia still wasn't convinced, he turned to face her and added, 'Don't worry, Reid's strong, I'm sure he won't do anything, at least not while there's still a chance that Emma's still alive.'

Garcia just nodded and took a deep breath, before saying, 'So, have you guys arrived at the Johnson's yet?'.

'Not yet, we're almost there. You know, I usually love the snow, but at the moment, I just wish it would dissapear!', Prentiss huffed.

'I know what you mean, it was a nightmare getting down this road alone!', Garcia replied.

'Well, it looks like we've just arrived, we'll call you later. Stay safe', Morgan said, snapping the phone shut and leaving a silence lingering in the room of the police station.

* * *

><p>'Emma's room is just up here', a detective told them, as she led Morgan, JJ and Prentiss up the winding stairs. Julie and Harry Johnson were currently out looking for Emma, after they had refused to just stay at their house and 'do nothing'.<p>

'It's the room at the end of the hall', the detective said, pointing towards a door, before heading back down the stairs. Morgan led the way, opening the door and walking into the room. Emma's bedroom was quite small; the walls were painted a sky blue colour and she had a desk, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers and a bookshelf in there. But it wasn't these things that were of interest to the team; as they looked around the room, they realised just how much Emma was like her older brother. Her room was kept immaculately clean for a teenager, her bookshelf was crammed full of books of all genres - biographys, historical books, crime books (which Morgan guessed were a gift from Reid, though he made a mental note to ask him, when all of this was over) and various school textbooks, and on every free shelf there were photos - a few were of Emma and her friends, but mostly, there were photos of her and her brother. In every picture, both Reid and Emma were smiling - there was a picture of them in the snow standing next to a snow man, a picture of them on a trampoline, in a park. Despite the situation, Morgan couldn't help but smile to himself, as he saw just how happy Reid looked in every photo.

'Wow, they look really close', muttered Prentiss as she picked up a photo that was next to Emma's bed, of Reid giving her a piggy-back, with the London Eye in the background.

'Yeah, they really do.', JJ sighed, a sad look in her eyes.

'Hey guys, look at this', Morgan called, as he picked up a photo album, which was on the end of Emma's bed. The front cover had been decorated with glitter and plastic gems, and the words 'Me and my Brother' had been written on there. As he opened it, so that JJ and Prentiss could see it too, they found that it was crammed with photos of Reid and Emma - the first photos showed both Emma and Reid to be a lot younger, but as they flicked through the book, the photos showed them to be getting older. The last photo that was in there was of Emma and Reid on a pair of swings in a park, big grins on both of their faces - the caption underneath read, 'Me and Spence, Surrey Park, 1st January 2012!'. JJ and Prentiss' moods both sunk, as it loomed on them just how much pain their friend must be feeling right now. However, Morgan began to flick through the album again, a puzzled look on his face.

'Morgan, what is it?', JJ asked him.

'Look', he said, turning to them and pointing to the album's last photo. 'This park, in loads of these photos, they're in this park, Surrey Park. I reckon, if Reid's not here or at the police station, this is where he'll be.'

'I think you're right', said Prentiss, looking more closely at the photo, 'He'll probably have gone to a place where he feels safe, a place he's used to here.'

'I'm gonna go and ask that policewoman if she knows where abouts this park is, you guys call Hotch and Gideon', Morgan told the girls, as he hurried down the stairs, album in hand. He found the policewoman talking to another policewoman, so he tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

'Excuse me, can you tell me where this park is please?', he asked politely.

'Uhh, let me see', said the policewoman, as she craned her neck to look at the photograph Morgan was showing her, 'Oh yeah, I know that place. It's about two minutes away from here - it's just along the small public pathway at the end of this road'.

'Thank-you very much', Morgan replied, 'Would you mind telling my colleagues upstairs that that's where I've gone?', he asked, not leaving the policewoman much choice as he hurried out of the house and down the road.

* * *

><p>Morgan had slipped and slided along the quiet, icy road, in his hurry to get to the park. He'd been wandering around the snow covered fields for half an hour, shivering in his thin leather jacket, and was just about to give up and call the team, when he saw Reid. He was sat down on a snow-covered bench, wearing his usual black coat with a purple scarf. As Morgan quietly walked closer to him, he saw that Reid was crying, silent tears streaming down his pink cheeks. He was rocking back and forth slowly on the bench, his head bent, his expression that of utter sadness.<p>

'Reid?', Morgan murmered, bending closer to him, after his fellow agent hadn't heard his footsteps approaching.

Reid's head slowly turned to face Morgan, and the look of on his face tugged at Morgan's heart; he didn't like seeing his friend upset, so Morgan sat down next to Reid on the bench, lightly pushing the snow out of the way, and said quietly, 'Hey, it's gonna be okay'.

'No', Reid whispered, going back to his rocking. 'No it's not, this is all my fault, she's my little sister, I was supposed to protect her, but I haven't and now she could be dead', his voice broke on the word 'dead' and he began to sob quietly, his breathing becoming deep and irregular.

'Hey Reid', his voice becoming stronger, 'You gotta listen to me okay, this is NOT your fault. We all thought that this guy had just stopped, none of us knew he was gonna start killing again, let alone in a different country'.

'But I should have been here', Reid replied, his voice still weak and broken from his continious stream of tears, 'I should have been here to protect her, not a nine hour flight away'.

'You can't be here all the time Reid, you have a job and a whole other life back at Quantico. Besides, there's no saying this wouldn't have happened even if you had been here', Morgan replied.

'A whole other life...', Reid echoed, 'But what if it was that whole other life that meant she was hurt? The unsub knew the BAU were involved in the case, it can't just be a coincidence that he happened to abduct Em'; Reid's voice changed when he said 'Em' - it was suddenly so full of love and the nickname came so naturally out of mouth that Morgan almost didn't notice it.

'Look Reid', Morgan said, seeing that his friend was almost on the verge of breaking down. 'You love your sister right?'

'I do', Reid murmered, still not looking at Morgan, 'I love her so much it hurts Morgan'.

'Right', said Morgan, his voice now more confident, 'Well, you're the one who knows her best. Your background and hers could help us to solve this case. Look, I know it's hard to accept, but time is running out here, we need you Reid, Emma needs you.'

Reid just sat there, still staring blankly at the ground, until Morgan mentioned that his sister needed him. At this, Reid suddenly sat upright, and Morgan could see in his eyes that he was going to help them - he was determined to find his baby sister.

'Come on Pretty Boy', Morgan said, standing up from the bench and brushing the snow of his trousers, 'We've got an unsub to find.'

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I am so sorry for the slow update! I just really wanted to make this chapter so much longer, and my reward to you is this lovely long chapter! Don't worry, I plan to make the other chapters this long as well, the first two chapters were just more setting the scene. My updates should be quicker now as I have no more exams coming up for a few months (YAAAY!)! I want to thank everyone who has favourited/alerted the story so far and I'd love to know your thoughts on this chapter, so, please review! Thank-you so much for sticking with the story, you're all wonderful! :D


	4. Time Is Running Out

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds and all characters and recognisable themes belong to the respected creators.

* * *

><p><strong>Time is Running Out:<strong>

The rest of the team, including JJ and Emily who had just returned from the Johnson's house, were all huddled round a table, when the door to the room opened, causing them to look up. Garcia gasped and JJ and Emily both looked pained when they saw Reid; his nose was pink from the biting cold outside, but it wasn't that which had caught their attention; Reid's face looked tortured, the rims of his eyes red, streaks on his cheeks where his tears had fallen, dark circles forming under his eyes from the anxiety.

But a small shake of the head from Morgan meant that none of the team pressed the matter, but instead turned back to the work they were doing.

'What do we have so far?', Reid asked quietly, his voice still sounding broken, as he looked down at some of the things that JJ and Emily had brought back from Emma's room - her computer and her scrap book of photos. He picked up the scrap book and began flicking through, a mixture of emotions passing across his face - joy, but sadness and loss too, as he looked at each of the memories he had shared with his sister.

'Well, all of what we already know about this unsub's actions don't seem to add up to this case - I mean, Emma matches the description of the girls he took, but unlike the other girls, he took her in broad daylight, not in the middle of the night', Emily informed him, looking down at the previous case files as she spoke.

'He would have had to, Em doesn't usually go out at night, she's not like that', Reid said quietly, his voice full of sadness.

'And there was the blood too. That doesn't add up either. We know that the unsub did attack these girls, but that was when he kept them, not whilst he was trying to capture them', Hotch added.

'Maybe she put a fight and he had to to stop her from running?', Morgan suggested, turning sideways to look at Reid as he spoke, who was looking at the ground, his face expressionless.

'Or maybe if this is the kill he's been planning, building up to as such, he attacked her when he first abducted her so he could be certain she wouldn't get away?', Emily suggested.

'But what is it about Emma that he wants so much? Reid, can you think of anything?', Gideon asked, turning to face the team's youngest member.

Reid was staring into space, a slight frown on his face, clearly deep in thought.

'I..I can't...can't think...', he stammered, panic beginning to form on his face, as if he suddenly couldn't remember anything.

'Okay, that's okay, uh, how about we check Emma's computer?', Hotch suggested, placing a reassuring hand on Reid's shoulder, after seeing that he was in no fit state to answer this question and was slowly beginning to enter a frenzy. 'Garcia?'.

'On it!', Garcia replied, quickly opening up Emma's laptop and connecting it to her own. 'Is your sister on any social networking sites?', she asked tentatively, whilst typing away.

'Isn't every teenager?', was Reid's reply, with a sad smile, his face gaining a little more colour as his breathing slowed.

Garcia smiled back, then turned back to her computer, and said to the team: 'I'll check her Internet history and see if there's any way she could have met or talked to the unsub online.'

'We still have one other problem to solve', Morgan suddenly piped up, causing all of the team, but Garcia, to look at him. 'All the other girls were opportunistic victims, he didn't have any other contact with them before the night of their murder because it wasn't hard for him to find a victim that suited his type each night he went out. But he abducted Emma from the cinema she passes every morning on her way to school, which means that he must have watched her usual routine to know exactly when to abduct her when there would be no witnesses.'

'We need to get Julie and Harry Johnson in here to interview them to see if there was anyone new in Emma's life lately', Prentiss sighed; this case seemed to be proving ever more complicated by the second.

'Okay, I'll go and ask the detective to contact them in a minute', Hotch replied. He then turned to the technical analyst, saying, 'Garcia, any luck with Emma's computer?'.

'Nada', was Garcia's frustrated reply, as she continued to type quickly, her expression that of exasperation. 'I can't get anything from it - it seems that Emma was very careful online, only talking to her friends and blocking any strangers.'

'That's my girl', was the whisper that came from Reid; he clearly didn't mean to speak out loud as he looked a little flustered when he noticed his fellow team members looking at him with expressions of sadness, as their hearts went out to him.

'Okay, so we know she didn't meet him online. JJ, we'll go and find the detective'; Hotch was the first one to speak (to which Reid looked slightly grateful for, as he didn't like being the centre of attention), getting up from his seat and heading towards the door with JJ.

'Wait!', Reid suddenly called, looking up. 'I'll come too, I might be able to help', he murmered, making his way to follow Hotch and JJ.

'Actually, I think there's another way you could help us', Emily said, drawing the attention to herself. 'There's another angle I'd like to persue.'

* * *

><p>'What angle?', Gideon enquired, looking at Emily intrigued.<p>

JJ and Hotch had just left the room to find the detective, leaving Emily to explain her theory to Gideon, Morgan, Garcia and Reid.

'Well, we know that the unsub knew the FBI had gotten involved when he killed in Atlanta - it was all over the news. You can't really think it was just a coincidence that he happened to abduct one of the agent's sisters, especially when he changed his geographic profile to exactly the country and town where she lived?', Emily explained.

'You think the unsub abducted Em because of me?', Reid whispered, looking at Emily, horror and guilt beginning to form on his face.

'It-It's just an angle I think we should maybe look into', Emily replied warily, seeing Reid's reaction to her statement.

'Emily's right - it's too much of a coincidence', Gideon said, speaking up. The other members of the team watched as he picked up a pen and paper and handed it to Reid, before carefully saying, 'Reid, I need you to think of anyone you know who fits this profile - anyone you may have upset in any way at any time in your life, but who's never actually hurt you before now. They would have known about Emma and maybe even where she lived'.

'I-I don't...', Reid stuttered, looking lost as he stared at the blank page of the notebook.

'Try starting with people at school or at college - they may have been jealous of you, but not obvious about it, they would have been more intrigued about your life', Emily said to Reid, who nodded and began to write names down on the piece of paper.

'Hey Gideon, do you think we should call Hotch and JJ and tell them we may have a lead? They may not need to interview the Johnsons', Morgan asked Gideon, after leading him to the other end of the room so Reid couldn't hear their conversation.

'No. We don't have much time left', Gideon replied, looking at his watch, 'If we're wrong about this then we're gonna need JJ and Hotch's work, let them carry on'.

Just as Gideon was about to walk back over to the other agents, Morgan added,

'Do you think we'll find her in time? I mean, as an honest answer?'.

Gideon turned around and sighed. 'We haven't got much time left. He's been sloppy enough with Emma already (Morgan noted that Gideon called Emma by her name, instead of referring to her as the 'victim', showing that even for him, the 'stay calm and act like it's a normal case' rule had gone down the drain) - harming her at the abduction site and risking leaving a blood trail, especially in the snow, and taking her in broad daylight. He may wanna drag out what he's doing to her, but he's still gonna kill her soon, intentionally or unintentionally. I just hope to God we find her in time because I honestly can't say what'll happen to Reid if we don't.'

Both men looked over at their youngest team member at this point. In the slowly dimming light of the evening, the dark circles under his eyes seemed even worse, and although they weren't red any more, the horror of what was happening was now even more clear in the young genius' face.

Reid suddenly stopped scribbling names down in the notebook, as he frowned for a second, before quickly walking over to the pile of Emma's things. He picked up the scrapbook of photos, flicking through, before reaching the page he was looking for.

'What is it?', Emily asked, exchanging confused expressions with the rest of the team.

'I saw this picture earlier', he said, pointing to a photograph that looked a few years old of him, Emma and a young man who looked around the same age as Reid, at a party, with other people also around Reid's age in the background of the photo. The caption read 'Me, Spence and Spence's friend Rob at their 2009 College Reunion Party.' 'It skipped over my mind, until you mentioned people at my college who were jealous of me. This was Robert Parker, he was in most of my classes at college and was always one grade or mark behind me in tests. I remember he was really interested in me and Em at this party...'.

* * *

><p><em>Reid's POV:<em>

_The music's blaring out of the speakers, deafening me, but I'm the only one who seems bothered by it, as everyone else is fooling around on the dance floor. I didn't even want to come to this stupid party, but Em had seen the invitation in my mail and practically forced me along, saying it would be "fun". I look over to my little sister, who's standing a few feet away from me, gently bobbing along to the music - that's one thing we don't have in common. Em's a keen dancer and she's pretty good, whereas I seem to have been born with two left feet. I figure she inherited it from Mom, as she did a lot of dance as a child, but I would never tell Em this - we never mention Mom or Dad._

_When Em sees me looking over at her, she smiles at me and I can't help but smile back - it's weird to think that just one little smile can brighten my day or just hearing her voice on the phone, describing her day at school, or the ridiculous amount of homework she has, can make me forget all of the horrible things I've seen on whatever case I've been working on. _

_'You okay?', I mouth to her, to which she nods. _

_'You?', she mouths back. I shrug and pull an exasperated face, which only causes to my sister to laugh and shake her head. _

_Just as I was about to suggest getting something to eat, an old friend of mine, Robert Parker sidles up to me, staggering as he walks. I remember him being one of the very few people at college who actually spoke to me, which I was immensely grateful for, even if he sometimes did ask a few strange questions. So, I figure I should at least talk to him, even if he is so drunk he can barely stand._

_'HEY MAN! How you doing? Who's your friend?', he slurrs and I can smell the alcohol on his breath as he pulls me into an awkard one armed hug._

_'Uh, this is my little sister, Emma', I reply, half-shouting so I can be heard over the music._

_After pulling away, he looks Em up and down, a small smirk on his face, before commenting, 'Aren't you something precious Princess?'. Em smiles at him awkardly, not looking him in the eye and I move closer towards my little sister. I get very protective of her, especially when it comes to situatuons where she feels uncomfortable. Situating myself between Em and Robert, I ask him, _

_'So, uh, was there anything in particular you wanted?'; I know I'm being forward with him, and I feel a bit cruel for it, but I doubt he'll remember this in the morning anyway._

_'No, uh, just a catch up. Hey, you never told me you had a sister?', he asks, looking over at Em again, which causes her to move slightly closer towards me. _

_'I, uh, only found out recently, so...', this is true, but I doubt I would have told him, even if I had known about Em then. Not even my team mates at the BAU know about her - it's always such a complicated story to tell, and I feel a bit ashamed by the fact that my little sister spent the first 8 years of her life not knowing I existed. It's great we're close now, but sometimes I wonder-_

_'So, are you two close then?', continues Robert, pulling me out of my train of thought._

_'Yeah, I guess so', I reply, looking down at Em, who gives me a warm smile as an agreement. _

_'That's nice', slurs Robert, a strange smile on his face._

_'Anyway, we better be going, I gotta get up early in the morning to take Em to the airport', I quickly say, whilst Em looks relieved._

_'Oh really, she doesn't live with you then?', Robert asks._

_'Uh, no, she lives with her adoptive parents in Surrey, in the UK', I answer, praying for him to stop asking questions and go away._

_'Ah well, I'd best leave you to it', Robert announces, patting me on the shoulder, looking quite pleased with himself. 'Have a safe trip home tomorrow Princess', he says to Em._

_'Um, thank-you', Em replies, smiling slightly._

_Just as we're walking out the door, I hear Robert call,_

_'Uh, you dropped this I think', he says, holding up a small piece of paper._

_'It's trash, just throw it away', I say, not even bothering to look at what it was, as I want to get me and Em out of there as quickly as possible; my encounter with Robert had left a strange feeling in my stomach and I couldn't wait to just be free from the loud music and awfully stuffy room._

* * *

><p>'I've never realised what it was he must have picked up until now. When Em was packing, she realised one of her luggage tags was missing. We thought nothing of it, but I guess that's what he picked up, it must have fallen from Em's bag', Reid told them quietly.<p>

'So that explains how he knew her address', Morgan stated.

'He watched her routine and decided the best time to abduct was at that point on her journey to school', Gideon added.

'Wait, something still doesn't add up. He was at school with Reid years ago, why did he only start killing in the past two years?', Prentiss asked.

'It must have been the party', Reid murmered. 'It was a few weeks after that party that the killings started.'

'So he saw you, and all those jealous memories resurfaced, so he decided to get back at you by hurting your sister', Morgan said, giving Reid a sympathetic look as he said it.

'Hang on, if he wanted to hurt Emma, why did he kill all of those other girls?', Garcia asked, looking round at the team.

'He killed in Atlanta to get the American police and the FBI involved, then in England to get the English police involved', Gideon replied simply.

'Garcia, can you see if this Robert Parker owns any property here in Surrey, it might be where he keeps his victims?', Prentiss asked, just as there was a swirl of pink and glitter as Garcia turned to her computer and began to type.

At that moment, JJ, Hotch and the detective walked back in the door, and seeing Garcia looking determined at her computer, JJ asked,

'You guys find something?'.

'Yeah, we think we may have a lead on a guy named Robert Parker, he was at college with Reid and was jealous of him. The killings started just after the two of them saw each other again at a college reunion party', Prentiss informed them.

'Did you get anything from the Johnsons?', Morgan asked.

'No, nothing', JJ sighed, 'Emma wasn't one to talk to strangers and they couldn't think of anyone new in their lives who could have done this.'

At this moment, Garcia yelled 'BINGO!', causing her team members and the detectives to jump and then look over at her hopefully.

'Babygirl you got something?', Morgan asked, leaning over Garcia's shoulder.

'Yes, it seems that Robert Parker had a residence, car, job, the lot in Atlanta until six months after the killings there stopped, when he changed his entire lifestyle to move to Surrey in the UK. He's spent the past two years creating a whole other life for himself here and now he has an appartment Guildford and also owns a warehouse in Bookham', Garcia told them all.

'What's the address of the warehouse?', the detective asked.

'357 Bridge Street', Garcia replied.

'That's only half a mile away from where Emma was abducted. It's where he must be keeping her', the detective said, standing up, as were the rest of the team.

'Detective, we're going to need a team of officers to man the parameter of the building, we'll go inside and do the talking. Also have an ambulance on standby', Hotch told the detective, who nodded and left the room quickly.

It was at this point all of the team turned to look at Reid. He was breathing heavily and when he looked up, the team could see fresh tears forming in his eyes.

'Do you think we'll have found her in time?', he whispered.

JJ squeezed his hand as Gideon said, 'I hope so Reid, but I reckon there's a good chance she could still be alive'.

'Okay, JJ and Garcia, you stay here on the line in case we need you. Morgan, Prentiss and Jason, we'll go to the warehouse, Reid-', Hotch began.

'I'm coming with you', was Reid's fierce reply.

'Reid, are you sure? We don't know what we might find?', Morgan told him, sounding concerned as he looked at Reid with uncertainty.

'I'm coming!', Reid repeated, 'She's my sister, I have to be there for her', he said, his voice breaking at the end of the sentence.

'Okay, put this on', said Hotch, throwing Reid a bulletproof vest. 'Let's go get this son of a bitch'.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>CLIFFHANGER! :D Firstly, I must apologise for the extremely slow update! I had writer's block, as this was the hardest bit to write, and I only just found my flow for the story a few days ago! But I hope I can make up for that with the nice long chapter! I've been waiting to write the next chapter since I started this fanfic, so my update should be a lot quicker! Thank-you so much again for the favourites/alerts/reviews - they make my day! I'd love to hear you thoughts on this chapter, especially the bit with Reid's POV - I hope I did him justice? So, please review! Thanks again for sticking with the story! :D


	5. I'll be Your Strength

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds and all characters and recognisable themes belong to the respected creators.

* * *

><p><strong>I'll be Your Strength:<strong>

'Okay, Reid, I know this is going to be hard, but we need you to stay in the shadows and not let Parker see you. If he does and he has Emma, all of those jealous memories may cause him to hurt her. Let me, Morgan and Prentiss do the talking, we'll signal to you when it's safe to come forward', Hotch told the team in the car as they drove to the warehouse.

Seeing the youngest agent about to protest, Hotch added, 'You know I wouldn't ask you to do this unless it was absolutely necessary'.

Reid nodded, seeing this was the best way to keep his little sister safe.

'So what angle are we going for?', Morgan asked.

'Tell him he doesn't have to do this, that Emma's innocent, and that he shouldn't be hurting her to get back at Reid. But I want one of you to have a shot though - he's unstable and if he does happen to see Reid, we don't wanna take any chances.' Gideon replied, to which the rest of the team nodded in agreement.

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later, Hotch, Gideon, Reid, Prentiss and Morgan were quietly running through the snow, heading towards the warehouse.<p>

'Morgan, Prentiss, Reid, you take the side door, Gideon and I will take the back', Hotch told them, as the team split up and ran in opposite directions.

Morgan could tell that Reid's anxiety was building up as his breathing was becoming more and more irregular as they came closer and closer to the entrance to the warehouse. This was only made worse by what happened next.

As they approached the side door, the three saw there was a piece of paper stuck to it, which read 'Better luck next time. I'm always one step ahead of you. See you at the funeral'.

As soon as they had all read what the sign said and seeing how white-faced Reid had become, Morgan wasted no time in kicking down the door to the warehouse. As Prentiss switched on what appeared to be a light switch, the awfulness of the room lay out in front of them. The walls were painted deep black and caved in on you, giving the sense that you were truly imprisoned. But this was not what Reid saw. He suddenly felt sick, because lying in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood, was Emma.

'NO!', came his strangled cry as he ran towards his little sister. Placed next to her body was a bloody knife and Prentiss and Morgan could see as they got closer that there were multiple stab wounds to her lower abdomen, as well as a wound to her head.

'No, no, no!', Reid sobbed, as he tried desperately to find Emma's pulse. 'Em, no, please don't be dead, please!'.

At this point, Hotch and Gideon ran into the room from the other door and were both shocked at what they saw; none of the team had ever seen Reid break down before. However, only Prentiss noticed them enter the room. Morgan was shaking Reid's shoulders saying,

'Reid, Reid! Look...look at me, I need to know, can you find a pulse?', he asked urgently.

'N-no, I...I can't Morgan, I can't, she can't be dead', was Reid's hysterical reply.

'Okay, Hotch I need you to get the paramedics in here. The unsub can't have been gone long, there's a chance we can still save her', Morgan said fiercly, as he began to start chest compressions on Emma's feeble body, whilst Hotch quickly ran from the warehouse.

At the same time, Reid held his little sisters hand, saying, 'I'm not gonna let you die Em', over and over again, whilst tears cascaded down his cheeks.

'The ambulance is having some trouble getting here in the snow, they're going as fast as they can', Hotch informed them, a grave look on his face.

'WHAT? They're not even here yet?', Gideon said angrily. It looked as if they'd arrived just too late when suddenly Emma rolled over onto her side, coughing up mouthfuls of blood on the already blood-stained floor.

Hotch, Gideon, Prentiss and Morgan both breathed sighs of relief, whilst a fresh wave of tears overcame Reid, which he attempted to wipe away quickly with his sleeve.

'Spence?', Emma whispered quietly though a mouthful of blood, as she looked up dazedly at her older brother.

'I'm right here Em, I'm right here', her brother replied, as he held her hands tightly in his. 'I'm never leaving you again, I promise. Don't worry, help is on it's way. You're gonna be fine, you're gonna be fine. Just stay strong for me, okay?'.

Emma nodded and tried to smile at her brother, even though it came out as a weak grimace.

After what seemed like an age, Reid's hand still wrapped tightly around his sister's, whispering comforting words to her to keep her conscious, the paramedics arrived in a wave of green and yellow as they quickly surrounded Emma, attaching an oxygen mask to her face and various wires into her arms. They quickly pressed packs against the deep head and stomach wounds and lifted her onto a stretcher, her brother never leaving her side the whole time.

'You coming with us I take it?', one of the paramedics asked Reid as they began to carry Emma out towards the ambulance, to which he nodded.

'Hey Reid, call us when you have a minute okay?', Morgan told the youngest agent, patting Reid's shoulder as he he did so.

'I will. Thank-you all so much...just...I can't even begin to...just thank-you, Em wouldn't be here without you', he told them, looking at each team member as he said it, his voice hoarse from his tears.

'Hey, there's no need to thank us. We're just glad your sister's okay. Just let us know when you need us', Emily said, smiling slightly.

Reid nodded and tried to smile weakly too, and then hurried after the paramedics.

'Well thank God for that', Emily sighed, turning to her fellow team mates as soon as Reid had left the warehouse.

'I know. You know for a minute there, I thought we were actually gonna lose her. I wasn't half surprised when she actually started breathing again', Morgan murmered, shaking his head in disbelief.

'We still have one problem', Gideon said, looking around the warehouse.

'Parker', Hotch sighed. After a minute of thought he said, 'Okay, so here's the plan. Like Morgan said, he can't have been gone long, especially in the snow, so we'll get the police to scan the perimeter. Prentiss, you go call JJ and Garcia and let them know what happened. Jason and Morgan, we'll carry on building on the profile and give it to the rest of the police back at the station. We're not resting until we find this unsub.'

* * *

><p><strong>Reid's POV:<strong>

Beep. Beep. Beep. The heart monitor beside Em's bed is showing that Em's heart is responding well to the surgery, it's strong. But I still can't help but worry about her. It's almost as bad as when I was sat in the dismal waiting room for eight hours whilst Em was in surgery, expecting every doctor that walks past to tell me she didn't make it. I cannot explain the relief that I felt when I was told she was gonna be okay, that I was gonna have the chance to make my little sister smile again. Seeing her for the first time after the surgery was a shock; she's covered all over in little cuts and bruises, not to mention the various plasters and gauze on her head. But it was at this point that I became determined that I would never let anything hurt Em ever again, I would protect her, whatever it took, because this is my fault.

When I look down at Em lying on that hospital bed, she looks so young and innocent, like the day I first saw her again after all those years. She's curled up on her side, which makes her look so small and fragile that it breaks my heart. I can't believe that anyone would ever want to hurt my beautiful baby sister. I'm sat here holding her hand, waiting for her to wake up, whilst trying not to cry again. I've gone past the point of caring that my team saw me that upset. Em's gonna be okay, and that's all that matters. I called Morgan when Em was in surgery, more than anything to try and distract myself from the ticking clock on the wall, to give him an update and he told me they're still trying to find Parker. I know there's anger and rage somewhere in me, for what Parker's done, but my brain's so busy processing everything else that it hasn't quite hit me yet.

I know I should probably call Morgan again, so the team don't worry, but I've decided I'll do it after Em's woken up. I know I'll feel guilty if I leave her while she's sleeping, when she's defenseless and oblivious to her surroundings, even though the hospital's probably safer than most places.

It seems like hours when I finally feel Em's hand faintly squeeze my own. I am suddenly completely alert and look at my sister, hope building up inside me. I see her eyelids gently flutter before they slowly open to reveal her brown eyes. She looks at me for a second, before blinking and then whispers,

'Spence?'.

'It's me, I'm here sweetheart, I'm right here. I promise I'm never gonna leave you again okay?', I whisper quietly leaning in towards Em, still holding her hand tightly.

'Wh-what happened?', she croaks, whilst looking around the hospital room confused.

'You...you were stabbed by one of our unsubs. Robert Parker, we met him at that college reunion party of mine...oh God, Em, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault, I'm so sorry sweetheart', I whisper gently, my eyes beginning to sting with tears as guilt washes over me.

'N-no...Spence, it wasn't your fault...th-this wasn't your fault', she tells me, the stubborn part of her voice coming through slightly, as she tries to sit up.

I take a deep breath to stop the tears from falling down my cheeks, and smile weakly, before finally telling my sister what I've wanted to tell her since I saw her picture on that screen.

'Okay. But just remember one thing for me. I love you so much, I always have and I always will and I promise I'll never let anything hurt you ever again Em', I say fiercly.

Em smiles at me, a stronger and wider smile than before, though I can see how much this pains her, before squeezing my hand and whispering,

'I love you too Spence. So much. And thank-you, you saved my life.'

I laugh quietly before saying, 'Any time sweetheart. Now try and get some rest, I promise I'll be here when you wake up'.

Em nods, before letting the morphine and the call of sleep envelope her once more. I kiss her lightly on the forehead, before taking her hand in mine once more and settling back into my chair, not allowing my eyes to close, but my brain to finally relax for the first time in hours.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>I know this chapter's shorter than the others, but I wanted to give you an update, and what I was going to put in the rest of the chapter didn't really fit in with the title of the chapter. The plans I have for the next chapter mean that it should again be a usual longer one, but I decided to make this a shorter, more emotional chapter. This has been one of the hardest parts of the story to write and I hope I've written it well. I thought the last part of the chapter would be more intense if I wrote it from Reid's POV, so I did. :) I'll hopefully be updating again soon, but I do have my exams coming up soon, so I apologise in advance if my updates are a little slower! Thank-you again for all the alerts, favourites and reviews and for sticking with the story! :D


	6. Warzone

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds and all characters and recognisable themes belong to the respected creators.

* * *

><p><strong>Warzone:<strong>

'Okay, that's great Reid, that's really great. Alright, well call us if you need us pretty boy and give Emma our love', Morgan tells Reid down the phone.

It was only when Emma's adoptive parents had finally arrived at the hospital, after having been stuck in traffic for hours because of a serious snow storm, that Reid finally left his sister's bedside to give the team an update.

After snapping his phone shut, he walked back into the small hospital room. Emma was sat up in the bed, wearing a grey jacket and looked up and instantly smiled when she saw her brother enter the room.

'Is everything all right?', she asked Reid.

'Oh yeah, everything's fine, the team send their love', Reid said smiling. 'Hey, uh, do you mind if I get some coffee?'.

At this, both Emma, Julie and Harry started laughing.

'Yeah that's fine', Emma replied, 'But I swear you drink waaay too much of that stuff though'.

'HEY!', Reid protested, putting his arms up in his defence.

'You do! I'd like to see you find some statistics in that brain of yours that show the benefits of drinking 6 cups of coffee each day, each with about 4 spoonfulls of sugar in!', Emma replied.

Reid paused for a moment, before saying, 'I'll get back to you on that one', before leaving the room to get his coffee.

* * *

><p>The team all looked up anxiously, after Morgan entered the room in the police station after his phone call with Reid.<p>

'She's fine. She came out of surgery a couple of hours ago and she's consciouss and talking', he told them.

JJ and Garcia breathed sighs of relief, whilst Emily asked,

'And is Reid okay?'.

'Yeah, he's good now. Relieved as hell I think. You know it's still weird to hear him talk about his little sister like that', Morgan replied as he joined the team who were looking over all of the notes on the case.

'He clearly adores her', Garcia said with a small smile on her face. 'But I'm glad he has someone, I've always thought of Reid as so lonely.'

'So, have the police found Parker yet?', Morgan asked.

'Not yet', was Hotch's reply, a grim look on his face. 'It seems he's got lucky with the snow - it's pretty much covered all of his tracks'.

The police had quickly begun to search the area around the warehouse for Parker, but a heavy snow storm quickly meant that their search was unsuccessful.

'Well, at least we know he can't leave the country', Emily stated, 'We gave all the airports his description'.

'No, he won't leave. He wants to see what he's done - the damage to Reid', Gideon muttered. 'He knew we'd find the warehouse, that's why he left the note. His appartment was empty, but his car's still missing. He's got to have some other property here'.

'Well if he does, it has to be under another name. I literally searched everything and the appartment and the warehouse was the only property I could find', Garcia told them.

'Maybe there's a clue to where his other residence is in the warehouse, is it still being searched?', JJ suggested, looking round at the team.

'I think forensics might still be there. But it'll take us too long to travel to that warehouse again in this weather. Time we can't afford to waste', Hotch said quietly. 'Can any of you remember anything odd or significant about the warehouse that might give us any clues?'.

After a few moments, Morgan broke the silence,

'Hey Prentiss, what you thinking?'.

'Did it not strike anybody else as odd that Emma's head wound, which was clearly the wound that he made when he first kidnapped her, didn't leave a trail of blood through the warehouse?', Emily asked, her face showing her to be deep in thought.

'What do you mean?', Gideon asked.

'Well, if he'd taken Emma straight there after he'd kidnapped her, then there'd be a trail of blood, because the head wound would still have been fresh and bleeding heavily. I don't think this is the kind of guy who cleans up after himself, so he must have taken Emma to another location prior to keeping her in the warehouse, somewhere where her head wound stopped bleeding so much', Emily said.

'I think you're right.', Hotch told her.

'Well, we all know what this means', Morgan sighed.

'A cognitive interview', Gideon murmered.

'There's no way Reid's gonna agree to that. You heard him, he's never gonna let anything hurt Emma again. I highly doubt he's gonna let us get her to relieve almost the entire experience', Emily protested.

'We have no other choice. This may be our only way of catching this guy', Hotch said.

'Wait, wait', JJ interrupted, looking confused. 'How do we even know Emma would have been consciouss at all until you guys found her. It was a wound to the head, wouldn't that have knocked her out?'.

'We spoke to the paramedics at the warehouse and they said the head wound wasn't actually that deep. So there's a big chance that she would have drifted in and out of conscioussness at some point. There's no memory loss, so those moments are probably still there in her head somewhere', Gideon said.

'And you're gonna draw those back out of her', Garcia asked, looking concerned.

'Babygirl, we don't have any other choice. She's our only living witness. You know we wouldn't do this unless it was absolutely necessary', Morgan told her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Garcia huffed, slumping back in her chair, before reluctantly saying, 'Okay. But I think Reid's gonna be a lot harder to convince.'

'We'll bring him round', Hotch said, sounding confident but not looking it.

JJ looked at her watch before saying, 'Hey you guys. You might wanna leave for the hospital now - official visiting times don't start for an hour but in this snow, it's gonna take you a while to get there'.

'Okay, let's get going then', said Morgan, grabbing his jacket.

'Hey, I think we should all go', Hotch told them, 'It'll be good for Reid to have our support and I don't know about you, but I think we've all seen enough crime scene photos for today'.

'Oooh! This is so exciting, we're all gonna get to meet Reid's little sister!', Garcia squeled, making the other team members laugh as they all left for the hospital.

* * *

><p>JJ was right. The snow meant that it took the team an hour and a half to finally reach the hospital. They'd already called Reid to let him know they were coming, but they hadn't told him why yet.<p>

They found the young genius waiting in the corridor outisde Emma's ward for them. The team were relieved to see Reid looking slightly better than when they had last seen him - the dark circles were still there and his eyes were still slightly red, but at least he looked a lot happier than before.

'Hey, you okay?', JJ asked in a concerned tone as she quickly hugged Reid.

'Yeah, I'm a bit better thanks', he said quietly, giving the team a small smile.

'And your sister's okay?', Garcia enquired.

'Yeah, she's good', Reid replied, smiling a little wider, 'The doctor said she's responding well to the drugs. She's gonna have to stay in for a few more days, but she should be fine.' He paused before gesturing to the door to the ward, saying 'Are you guys gonna come in? I have to get back to Em. Julie and Harry went to pick up some of her stuff and I don't want her to be alone for too long.'

'Lead the way', was Emily's reply, as she looked back at the other members' of the team nervously: this was not going to be easy.

'So how's the case coming along?', Reid asked as he lead the team towards Emma's room.

'Actually that's what we needed to talk to you about', Hotch said.

'Okay?', Reid said, sounding confused at why everyone was looking at him like he had his gun pointed at them. He paused outside his sister's room, before deciding not to go in and he turned back around to face the rest of the team. 'What's going on?'.

'We worked out that Parker must have a third residence, seeing as he's not at the warehouse or his appartment, and his car's still missing, but we don't know where that is yet', Hotch told him.

'Uh, okay. What does that have to do with me?', Reid replied, a perplexed look still on his face.

'Prentiss noticed that there was no trail of blood in the warehouse, suggesting he took Emma to this residence where her head wound stopped bleeding so badly, before he took her to the warehouse', Gideon said, looking directly at Reid to see if he had worked out what they were getting at yet.

Seeing that the young genius' brain hadn't quite clocked onto their plan yet (they all assumed it was because his trail of thought was still somewhere with Emma), Emily added calmy, but hesitantly,

'Reid we need to do a cognitive interview with Emma'.

Reid's face expression suddenly became that of anger and his stance turned defensive towards the door to his sister's room,

'NO! No way!', he shouted.

'Reid, come on man, she's our only living witness, you know we don't have any other choice!', Morgan said.

Seeing that Emma was beginning to notice that something was happening outside her room, Reid led his team members closer towards the ward desk, saying,

'I don't care! I am NOT gonna let her relieve that! I promised to protect her, what kind of brother do you think I am if I'm gonna let Em have to go over all of what happened to her?', he said fiercly.

'Hey, Reid, we get that, we really do. We don't wanna have to make your sister relieve it any more than you do', JJ sighed, 'But this could be our only chance of catching this guy. Don't you wanna see the person who did this to Emma put behind bars?'.

'Not like this', Reid hissed.

Just as the team thought they were getting nowhere, they heard a door open and then footsteps behind them. Emma was slowly limping towards them rolling the drip she was attached to beside her, still wearing the hospital gown, but with the grey jacket on too.

This was the first time JJ and Garcia had seen Emma in the flesh, and Morgan, Emily, Hotch and Gideon had seen her without being covered in blood. Upon laying their eyes on the young girl, JJ and Garcia gasped and the rest of the team looked stunned; Emma looked startingly like her brother, the same hair colour, the same eyes, nose and mouth. She was quite small, with long, wavy hair and she was wearing glasses, which reminded them even more of Reid. She wasn't obviously pretty, but you could tell by looking at her that she was intelligent, yet she didn't have an arrogant air about her. The likeness with Reid, meant that the team almost didn't notice her injuries, but after a few moments they did in fact see that she had small cuts and a few stiches on her face, as well as a gauze and bandage over her head wound and the way she was walking didn't let them forget about the injuries to her abdomen; upon seeing these, and seeing just how fragile and innocent Emma looked, evoked a sense of guilt amongst the team about what they were asking.

'What's going on?', Emma asked as she walked over towards the team. She had a London-English accent, but not a strong one, and she looked curiously at her brother for the answer to her question.

'Em, what are you doing? You're not supposed to be out of bed sweetheart, you're in pain!', Reid said, his voice soft and gentle, but with a slight hint of panic in it, and he looked a little distressed as he saw that Emma was limping. He walked over towards his sister, but before he could try to help her back into her room, she said,

'I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on. Is it about Parker?'

'Nothing's going on, everything's fine', Reid replied, sounding exasperated.

'Uh, actually...', Emily began, but Reid cut her off,

'No', he said simply, giving his team a look as if to say 'You dare'.

'Oh my gosh, is this the team Spence?', Emma suddenly said, her voice sounding brighter, and a smile beginning to form on her face, as she realised who these people were.

'Yes we are!', was Garcia's enthusiastic reply. 'Hi, I'm Penelope, but everyone calls me Garcia!'. She smiled happily at Emma, who grinned back.

The rest of the team, who weren't as forward as Garcia, looked at Reid, waiting for him to introduce them.

'Yeah, it is Em', he said, a half smile managing to creep onto his face, 'This is Hotch, Gideon, JJ, Emily and Morgan', he gestured to each member as he said their name.

The team noticed that Emma blushed slightly, a rush of pink to her pale cheeks, when Morgan gave her a little wave and a smile, and she smiled shyly back at him.

'So, what were you gonna say before Spence interrupted you?', Emma said, regaining her composure slightly.

'I said no. Not a chance in hell', Reid reminded the team.

'Oh come on, why can't you tell me? I'm curious now', Emma chimed in.

'Can't we at least ask if your sister's willing to do it?', Gideon gently asked Reid.

Looking between the interested face of his sister and the pleading faces of his team, Reid sighed.

'Fine, but only if Em's one hundred percent okay with it!', he said defensivly.

'That's fine. Thank-you', Emily said, looking at Reid, her expression a mixture of gratefullness and understanding.

'But can we at least get you back into your room first Em, I don't like seeing you in pain sweetheart', Reid said affectionately, turning to his sister, who nodded. He helped Emma back into her room, the team following closely behind him.

Once they had all filed into the room, Reid sat down next to his sister, lightly holding her hand, and Hotch and Gideon stood by the door, Morgan said,

'We want to do what's called a cognitive interview with you'.

'What's a cognitive interview?', Emma asked.

'It's a special kind of interview where we try to draw out the specific details of what you can remember from your experience using your senses', Emily told her. 'We believe that our unsub had taken you to another residence, prior to taking you to the warehouse, and although you may not remember much about it now, we'd like to see if this interview could give us some insight on what this residence is like and the area around it'.

Before Emma could say anything, Reid turned to his sister and said,

'Em, it would mean you having to remember things about what happened to you - things that you don't remember now because your brain's stopping you from remembering them - to protect you. Do you really want to relieve all that?'.

Instead of answering her brother's question, Emma instead turned to the rest of the team and asked,

'Will it help to catch him?'.

'Yes, we believe it would', Hotch replied gently.

Emma then turned back to face her brother, who had a pleading look on his face.

'I have to do it Spence, or at least try. I _want_ to help', she said stubbornly. Just as Reid was about to say something, Emma quietly asked, 'What if he comes after you? What if he hurts you because I didn't help you guys? Do you think I could live with that guilt?'.

After a few moments, Reid sighed, 'Fine', he said quietly. 'But I'm gonna be in the room during the interview! And if you want to stop at all during it, just say Em, okay?'.

'Don't worry, I'll scream the place down', Emma said jokily, which made her brother smile.

'Okay, well I suggest Morgan and Emily stay in here and conduct the interview and we'll be waiting outside', Hotch told the team.

'Sounds like a plan', Gideon said, as he, Hotch, JJ and Garcia made their way out of the hospital room.

'Wait!', Emma cried, stopping them in their tracks. She nodded towards a vending machine just outside the door of her room, saying 'Those tubs of Ben and Jerry's ice cream have been looking at me for the past four hours. Seeing as worry guts over here (she jerked her head towards her brother, causing the rest of the team to laugh) won't let me get out of bed to get one myself, is there any chance one of you could get me one please, if you don't mind that is? I have the money!', she asked tentatively, looking around for her purse and pulling out a few pound coins.

JJ smiled, and said, 'Sure, that's fine', as the four left the room, quietly closing the door behind them. A few minutes later, JJ returned with Emma's ice cream.

'Cheers! Wait, no, sorry, that's an England thing! Thank-you!', she said, giving JJ a warm smile which she returned.

As soon as the smell of the ice-cream hit Emily's nose, she sighed.

'You made the right choice there. Chocolate's always good to calm the nerves', she said to Emma.

'Agreed! I love chocolate', Emma replied, before taking a big spoonful of ice cream.

Morgan and Reid were both smiling, until Emily spoke again, softly, saying,

'Okay my fellow chocolate-lover, I'm gonna need you to close your eyes...'.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Another chapter done! I'm sorry it took a while, my exams have officially begun and they are hell! What's even more annoying is I seem to have even more motivation and ideas to write my fanfic when my exams are happening, than when I'm free! So, I'll try to write as much as I can, but I apologise in advance if the update is a little longer than usual! Back to the story; I decided to write the interview into the next chapter, but you'll also find out a secret Emma's been hiding in Chapter 7 as well ;) Onto Criminal Minds - has anyone seen the season 7 finale? I watched it and cried all the way through, the Reid scenes were adorable! If anyone has seen it, PM me and we can talk about it! ;D Thank-you so, so, so much for staying with the story and for reviewing, alerting and favouriting it! I'd love to know what everyone thinks of it so far, so PLEASE review, the reviews really make my day! I'll stop rambling on now, until the next chapter! :D


	7. Moments

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds and all characters and recognisable themes belong to the respected creators.

* * *

><p><strong>Moments:<strong>

_Emma's POV:_

With my eyes tightly shut, I now feel nervous. I know I have no reason to be because I know that Spence will stop them if I want to stop remembering. I'm tempted to stop them now, before it's even begun, but I know I can't. I have to be brave, face those horrible thoughts that I know are lurking in my brain somewhere. But Spence's words are still lingering in my mind, about how my brain's not letting me remember what happened to protect me...

Emily's voice quickly snaps me out of my train of thought and back into reality.

'The first thing I need you to do is to think back to your journey to school yesterday - what the air felt like on your skin, the things you could hear and smell', she tells me quietly.

I take a deep breath and think back to when I first left the house, the cold breeze in my face as I trudged through the snow.

'It was cold', I say. 'Freezing actually - the wind was making it worse. It was blowing my hair everywhere. The snow felt soft under my feet, like it was absorbing all sound, even the traffic seemed quieter'.

'And the smells?', Emily asks.

'Popcorn', I say with a small smile. 'When I reach the cinema that's what I always smell'.

As I realise what part of the journey I'm coming to, I start to feel panicked, my breathing becoming quicker. My brother must have noticed this because he squeezed my hand tighter, reassuring me.

'What do you remember next? What did you hear or feel, anything significant?', she asks softly.

'I heard footsteps behind me. They...they were running. Something didn't feel right, I remember feeling colder, shivers down my spine', I whisper.

'Then what happened?', Morgan asks gently.

'I turn around. I-I didn't see him...all I saw was a baseball bat. Then everything went dark. I...I can't see anything. It hurts, please help me, it hurts', I'm aware of my voice becoming gradually louder, because suddenly I feel so scared. It's all real again, the darkness, the searing pain in my head. I don't want to be here. I want it to stop. Then my brother's voice pulls me back to reality slightly.

'Can we please stop this? Em's getting distressed, she's in pain!', he says, angrily. It's when I hear this that I realise, I'm okay, they're just memories, nothing more. I must have calmed down a little bit, because I hear Morgan argue,

'She's doing alright Reid. We've come this far, we might as well see if she can remember any more'.

My brother must have nodded, because a few seconds later, Morgan asks,

'Can you remember the journey to where you were taken at all? Did the ride feel bumpy, or smooth?'.

'A-a truck. That's what I think we're in. I can hear the engine, roaring. He...he's driving, shouting...it smells funny, like burning.'

'That's good, that's really good', Emily tells me soothingly.

'We stop moving. I thought maybe he'll leave me in the truck..until he-he grabs me. His arm is so tight, I can't feel my arm...the ground, I can see, mud, underneath the snow, tracks of mud...It-it's quiet, only the birds...It's black again now, I-I can't see anything again!' I cry.

'Hey, hey, it's okay sweetheart, it's okay', I hear Spence whisper to me and I can feel his arms wrapping tightly around me.

'What can you remember when you woke up? How did the ground feel under your feet? Could you smell anything, cooking maybe?', Emily asks tentatively.

'The ground's soft, like a rug...I can hear him walking around, opening and closing doors. A-a lake, I can see it out the window. I...I can smell iron, like blood, my blood...I-I can see it on the floor. I feel dizzy', I stop because I know this is when I passed out again.

'Can we please stop now?', Spence says and it sounds like he's almost crying.

'Wait, just one more thing', Emily says. 'Did he say anything to you, in this place or in the warehouse, anything that sounded odd?'.

I'm in the warehouse now. I know because I look around and the ceiling seems so far away. The walls...it's like they're closing in on me. I look ahead of me.

'He, he's coming towards me, he's got a knife. He, he says 'Spencer', something about revenge, he's got no reason to live, he says. He's angry, he's coming towards me. NO! No, no, please, Spence help me, Spence!', I scream and suddenly I find myself back in the hospital room. Spence takes one look at me, worry in his eyes, before wrapping his arms around me once more, pulling me into a tight hug. I sob into his jumper, my arms wrapped tightly around my brother, holding onto him as if he's my lifeline away from all of those horrible memories. I hear Spence tell me that 'It's okay. Ssh, everything's going to be okay. You did so good Em, you're so brave sweetheart. I love you', whilst he kisses the top of my head. Eventually, my sobs stop and the morphine kicks in again. I slowly feel myself drifting out of conscioussness, though I still don't let go of my brother, for fear that those bad memories will resurface in my dreams...

* * *

><p>'How did it go?', Gideon asked tentatively as Emily and Morgan emerged from the hospital room. The rest of the team had been waiting outside and they'd all heard Emma's piercing screams as she relived some of the worst moments of her life.<p>

'It went well actually', Emily said, causing JJ, Garcia and Gideon to look surprised and Hotch to raise his eyebrows at her. 'Emma said that he hit her with a baseball bat then took her in a truck to a house in what sounded like the middle of nowhere and she could see the lake from the window'.

'That's good. A deserted house could really help us to track down his location', Hotch said, looking slightly hopeful.

'How's Emma?', JJ asked, sounding concerned as she glanced into the hospital room where Emma had fallen asleep in Reid's protective hold of her.

'She's strong, I don't think I would've been able to go over what she did', Morgan replied, looking impressed as he too looked back into Emma's hospital room.

'Like her brother', Garcia said with a small smile.

'You got that right', Prentiss sighed, looking worried as she added, 'Reid's pretty mad at us for making her go through that, do you think _he'll_ be okay?'.

'Yeah, he'll be fine', Morgan replied. 'He's just being protective. It's what older brothers do.'

The team all smiled at this, before Gideon said,

'Shall we get back to the police station and go over what we've learned?'.

The team all nodded in agreement before setting off once again in the heavy snowstorm.

When they finally arrived at the police station, Garcia quickly sat down and switched her computer on whilst Hotch and Gideon added the latest information to the board.

'So, my lovelies, what do you want me to do?', Garcia enquired, looking expectantly up at the rest of the team.

'Search for isolated, country houses near a lake within a 20 mile radius of where Emma was taken and cross-reference that with people who own a truck', Morgan told her, as Garcia began to type furiously on her computer.

'Okay, I have six matches. You got anything else I can search to reduce the list?', was Garcia's response.

'Only include people in the search who've brought the property in the last two years', Emily added.

'Okay, I've got three people now. How do we know which one's Parker?', Garcia said, exasperated.

'This unsub's been planning this kill for two years, like we said, it's the one he's been waiting for. If he feels that strongly about Reid, it's likely he'll have brought the house under a name that has something to do with him', Gideon said, pacing around the room in frustration.

'Do you mean, like an anagram?', JJ asked, her eyes following Gideon's pacing.

'Nada', Garcia growled, 'None of these names are anagrams of our boy genius'.

'It was at college that he first met Reid. The place must be significant to him. Garcia, try anagrams of the name of the college Reid went to', Morgan told Garcia, walking over to her and leaning over her shoulder.

'Just give me a second', said Garcia as she began to type away. 'BAM! Found him. And the house is called Bramsbey Cottage - it's about 10 miles away from where Emma was taken.'

'We got him', Hotch said, sounding relieved. 'It's likely he'll be waiting there still - he thinks Emma's dead and he's waiting to hear about her funeral, so hopefully we'll catch him at this cottage. Garcia, can you send the address to all of our cells?'

'Already done it!', Garcia announced, with a smile.

'That's my girl', Morgan said as he began to get on his bullet-proof vest and gun ready.

'I've just let the detective know we have his location. There gonna send a team of officers to come with you', JJ announced, walking back into the room.

'Okay, let's go, it'll take us a while in this weather', Hotch said.

'Wait!', Garcia called stopping the team in their tracks. 'What about Reid, aren't you gonna tell him?'.

'I don't think that's the best idea, he was so upset when we found his sister that I don't even know what he'd do to Parker', Emily said.

'But', Garcia said, exasperated, 'Don't you think he has a right to know - I mean, this guy tortured his sister, how would you feel in his situation?'.

There was a moment of silence, before Gideon said,

'Alright Garcia, tell him where we're going and send the address to his cell. If he decides to come, make sure you tell him to wait for us to get there', he emphasised.

'Got it', Garcia replied, 'Good luck!', she and JJ called to the team with mirrored worried expressions on their faces.

* * *

><p><em>Reid's POV:<em>

Em's asleep now, thank God. I hope she can get over this, I know I wouldn't be able to bear seeing that fear on her face again, the fear I'd seen during the interview. She looked so much like Mom when she's scared, the exact same expression Mom had when she was having one of her episodes and didn't even realise it was me standing in front of her. In some ways, I feel like part of what I'm doing is for Mom - she didn't wanna give Em up, but after my father left and sent the adoption papers, Mom realised the best thing for Em was to live with someone else, so she too didn't have to worry about coming home to a Schizophrenic episode. But I still remember the day Em was taken away though...

_'Hello, you must be Spencer. My name is Sarah and this is Darren. Can we speak to your Mom please?', the lady at the door told me. _

_She's smiling at me, but I can tell they're both anxious to get inside the house - they're talking to me like I didn't know what was going on, but I know exactly what's happening. They've come to take my baby sister away for adoption. They're gonna have a struggle though - the number of times in the past few days I've caught my mum packing and almost leaving with the baby. I stopped her each time, even if it did mean standing in front of the door and refusing to move until Mom calmed down and put Emma back in her crib. I'm worried she's become more attached to Emma over the past few days than she should have been - Emma slept in Mom's bed with her every night and I can't remember a time Mom had set her down in the past few days - she wasn't playing with her, just holding her, all the time. I know how she feels, I don't want Emma to go either - every time she cries it pierces through my heart, my Mom's too, but I know this is what is best._

_'Yeah, she's inside', I tell the people at the door, standing back to let them in the house. They look around and only seem more eager to leave with Emma - my Mom hasn't cleaned for the past few days and the house has never been really tidy._

_Suddenly my Mom appears in the doorway of the bedroom. She looks scared, terrified even. I wonder if she's having one of her episodes, but then I see her eyes - she knows exactly what's happening. She's glaring at me, angry for letting these people in the door. She's clutching onto Emma so hard that my baby sister starts crying. _

_'Spencer what have you done?', she growls, only clinging onto Emma even tighter when she starts crying._

_'Diana, you know this is for the best. You've signed the papers, I'm afraid Emma is no longer legally allowed to be in your care', Darren says gently. _

_But this just makes it worse._

_'NO! I'm her mother, you can't take her, not my baby!', Mom screams, backing into the bedroom._

_'Diana, please, just hand over Emma, you don't want her to get hurt', Sarah says, slowly walking towards Mom with her arms outstreched._

_This only makes my Mom even more panicked. She's crying now, I can see the tears streaming down her face and the pain in her eyes makes me feel sick - she's desperate._

_'No! She's mine, I would never hurt her, not my Emma!', she cries, backed up against the wall now. _

_'Diana, we need the baby', Sarah says, sounding more stern, but still with a gentle tone._

_'NO! Don't you come any closer, don't you dare! Spencer stop them!', Mom screams. I want to move but it feels like my feet are fixed to the ground; all I can do is watch._

_Sarah's made her way over to my mother now and Darren's right behind her. Sarah begins to grab Emma from my mother's arms, to which my mother wails, _

_'NO! No, no, no! She's mine, I love her so much, I'll take care of her, don't take my Emma away, please!', desperately grasping at the baby. _

_But her hold is too weak and Sarah pulls my sister out of my mother's arms. As soon as she has Emma, Darren holds my mother back, while she screams, _

_'NO! No, please, I beg of you. I'll take care of her, I can, I love her so, so much, she's my baby, she's my beautiful little girl, you can't take her away from me! She's mine, no-one elses, give her back!', as she struggles against Darren's hold of her._

_As soon as Sarah begins to walk away with Emma, my sister starts screaming. Not a cry for attention, more like a scream of pain, like she understood and felt exactly what my mother was feeling, and she too wanted to be back in Mom's arms. I catch a glimpse of her bright, pink cheeks and big brown eyes through the blanket she's being held in and suddenly feel faint - this is the last memory I'll ever have of my baby sister: her screaming in pain for my mother, and me, stood here, not being able to do anything. I suddenly feel my own tears forming, but they are nothing compared to my mother's - as soon as Emma started crying, she completely broke down; she's on the floor, sobs wracking her entire body as she wails, _

_'She's crying see, she wants her mother! She wants me, my baby wants me, I need her! I can stop her crying, I promise, I know what to do, a mother knows best!'. _

_Sarah nods at Darren, before finally heading out of the door of our house, taking my baby sister away from me and my Mom forever..._

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Another chapter completed! I'm so, so sorry for the slow update - my exams have been full on, but I only have one left now so I should be updating regularly from the end of this week onwards! I've really got into this story again and I love writing it. The secret about Emma will be discovered in the next chapter now - I was going to include it in this chapter but there's some stuff I wanted to include before it and the chapter would have been really long, so I thought I'd update with what I have instead. I also wanted to give you a bit of insight into Reid and Emma's past - I'd love to know your thoughts on the last little bit, so please review, your thoughts really do make my day! :-) I should hopefully have the next chapter up by next week Thanks for sticking with the story! :D


	8. Broken

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Criminal Minds and all characters and recognisable themes belong to the respected creators.

* * *

><p><strong>Broken<strong>

It wasn't until the phone started ringing that Reid snapped out of his thoughts and realised he had tears streaming down his cheeks at the memory of the worst day of his life. He quickly wiped the tears away and looked at the caller ID. It was Garcia.

'Hello?', he answered, sounding tired.

'Reid, you got me and JJ on speaker', Garcia answered, sounding wary of what she was about to say.

'What's going on?', Reid asked, immediately sitting up in his seat, though keeping his quiet because Emma was still sleeping.

'We've found him. Well, we know where he lives. The rest of the team have gone there now', Garcia said quickly, taking in a deep breath, waiting for her colleague's reaction.

'What's the address, I'm going there too', Reid said straight away, practically running out of the hospital room, an angry tone forming in his voice.

'Woah, woah, Reid calm down', JJ said calmly, 'You can't just go rushing there, you have to wait for the rest of the team, you're not even armed!'.

'I don't care', was Reid's response as he hurried down the staircases, taking two steps at a time, 'JJ, don't you remember what he did to my sister?'.

'Yes, I know, but none of us, including Emma, want you to get hurt!', JJ insisted. 'Look, we haven't sent you the address yet and we won't until you PROMISE to wait for the rest of the team to get there before you arrest Parker!'.

Reid sighed in frustration, before saying quietly, 'Okay, I promise'.

'Thank-you', JJ replied, before Reid hung up. Both of the girls looked at each other and hoped, for Reid's sake more than anything else, that he kept his promise.

Luckily the girls needn't had worried; although Reid was effectively closer to Parker's residence than the rest of the team, because of the snowstorm and the team's head start, they both arrived at the country house at the same time.

* * *

><p>As soon as Reid got out of his car, closing his car door quietly so as not to alert Parker to their presence, Morgan hurried over to him with a gun and bullet proof vest, which Reid quickly put on. Hotch, Gideon and Emily then proceeded to where Morgan and Reid were standing, with the police team following behind them.<p>

'Okay, so here's the plan. Gideon and Reid, you cover the back entrance to the house, Emily and Morgan, you go round the side and the chief and I will try to get in through the front door', Hotch informed them. He then turned to the police chief saying, 'If your men could surround the perimeter of the house, just in case he has an escape we're not aware of', to which the police chief nodded and began to lead his men around the house.

Hotch then turned back to the team, 'I'll doubt he'll let us in through the front door, so be prepared, I imagine he'll be armed. And Reid, I know it's hard, but remember, unless he poses as a threat, we can't legally take him down', he said, sounding concerned as he addressed Reid.

Reid just nodded, but he was gripping his gun tightly in his hands. As soon as the chief returned to the group of profilers, Hotch spoke up again.

'Okay, let's go', he instructed and the team moved around the house.

Hotch and the chief quietly made their way to the front door. Hotch banged on the door, whilst saying,

'ROBERT PARKER, OPEN UP. IT'S THE POLICE AND THE FBI - WE HAVE A WARRANT', after a few seconds of silence, Hotch knocked again.

'WE KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE AND WE KNOW WHAT YOU'VE DONE, SO JUST COME OUT QUIETLY WITH YOUR HANDS UP AND NO-ONE ELSE WILL GET HURT', he yelled through the door.

Suddenly, a smash was heard from inside the house and there was the sound of a door opening.

'He's going out from one of the side doors', Hotch told the team through the microphone on his wrist, before he and the chief quickly moved towards the back of the house.

As soon as they had heard what Hotch had said, Morgan and Emily nodded to each other, before Morgan hurried down the left hand side of the cottage, and Emily went to investigate down the right hand side. As soon as Emily had turned the corner, she saw a figure running towards her, holding a knife out in front of him.

'Robert Parker, put the weapon down on the floor and put your hands in the air', she told him, pointing her gun at the dark-haired unsub who was standing a few feet in front of her. Parker just smirked, clearly thinking he was no match for Emily, and went to lunge forward, but instead found himself tackled to the ground by Morgan.

'Put the weapon down you son of a bitch!', Morgan growled angrily. As soon as Parker had flung the knife down, Morgan forced his hands behind his back, digging Parker's face into the concrete.

It was at this point that Reid and Gideon hurried around from the back of the house and Hotch and the chief from the front. Upon seeing his former college student, Parker grinned with triumph.

'Well, if it isn't Mr Perfect Spencer Reid, the one who could never do any wrong', he said, his speech slightly slurred due to Morgan's strong hold of him, 'Well, guess what? I win! I tortured and killed your precious sister, how d'you feel now eh?'.

Reid bent down towards the person who had caused him so much grief over the past few days, his voice full of emotion as he whispered,

'Pretty good considering my sister's still alive. You didn't kill her Parker - she fought for her life and she beat you! She's stronger than you think and now you're gonna pay for what you've done! Take a good look around you, because believe me, this is the last bit of the outside world that you're ever gonna see, I'm gonna make sure of that'. Reid then slowly rose, his body shaking with anger as he glared down at Parker.

Parker's face had gone from one of amusement, to shock and then extreme anger as Reid had been talking to him, and he tried to lunge himself at Reid, his face a look of pure hatred, but Morgan merely pulled him to his feet and dragged him away to the police car, murmering in Parker's ear, 'Don't even think about it!'

Hotch and Emily followed, but Gideon and Reid stayed behind.

'I'm proud of you, you know', Gideon said, turning round and facing the youngest member of the team, as soon as everyone was out of ear-shot.

Reid smiled sheepishly, before saying quietly, 'For not ripping Parker to pieces?'.

'No, well partly, but for staying strong for your sister', Gideon replied.

'Gideon, I ran away. If Morgan hadn't had found me, I'd probably still be in that park now', Reid said, looking confused, but also slightly upset at the memory.

'No you wouldn't. You would've come back', Gideon said simply.

'How do you know?'.

'Because I've seen the way you are with your sister today and there's no way the Reid I know would have abandoned her. You love her too much for that, she's lucky to have you, you know', Gideon answered, patting Reid on the shoulder, before following the rest of the team to the police car, leaving Reid with a smile on his face.

* * *

><p>The team spent that night in a nearby hotel, apart from Reid, who took up residence in the spare room in Julie and Harry's house. Everyone fell asleep very quickly that night, tired due to the lack of sleep because of the case, but happy that Parker was finally behind bars. It wasn't until the next afternoon, that Reid finally woke up and looking at the clock, he surprised himself by how much he had managed to sleep. He made himself a cup of coffee, before ordering a cab to take him to the hospital; Harry had left a note, saying he had already proceeded there, and didn't want to wake Reid. By the time the team had caught Parker the previous night, the hospital visiting times had ended; Emma was still asleep, and with Julie staying the night at the hospital with her, Reid happily accepted the Johnson's offer of staying in their spare room.<p>

The snow was still falling, though lightly and more peacefully than the day before, but the ground was still covered in a thick blanket of white, so Reid wrapped himself up in a purple scarf and matching gloves. It was when Reid stepped out into the biting cold outdoors that he was thankful he had been wearing his winter boots to travel in, as the only other pair of shoes he had packed in his go-bag were his sneakers, which would have sunk straight through the snow and soaked his feet. Due to the slightly better weather, the cab ride to the hospital didn't take too long, and Reid arrived just as visiting hours were starting.

He quickly hurried up to his sister's ward, eager to tell her the news. As he arrived on the floor of the ward, he was met with Harry, who was getting some drinks from a vending machine.

'Spencer!', he said cheefully, reaching out to shake Reid's hand, 'Emma was wondering if you were gonna come visit her today. Did you sleep well? I'm sorry, I would have given you a lift, but Julie wanted me to bring some stuff to the hospital, and you were kind of out of it'.

'Oh, that's okay, I was pretty tired last night', Reid replied, looking anxiously onto the ward. 'Is Em okay this morning? Nothing's happened?'.

'Oh, no, no, she's fine', Harry informed him, to which Reid breathed a sigh of relief. 'The doctors seem a bit worried that her blood pressure's still a bit high, but they said that should hopefully repair itself over the next few days'.

'Oh right, okay. Is it okay to go in and see her?', Reid asked.

'Yeah, yeah, course. After you', Harry said, holding the door to the ward open.

Emma's eyes lit up when her brother entered her room as she said,

'Hey Spence! Did you sleep well? I heard you were a _bit_ shattered last night', giving her brother a knowing look.

Reid laughed quietly before saying, 'Yep, I think the lack of sleep finally took it's toll on me. You feeling okay this morning?', as he sat down in the chair beside his sister's bed, leaning over to give her a hug.

'I'm alright. I can't wait to get back home though, hospital food's horrible', was Emma's muffled reply, as she tightly hugged her brother back, before pulling a face as she thought about the meal's she had been presented with earlier that day.

'Speaking of food, now Spencer's here, you don't mind if your father and I nip downstairs for a bite to eat do you?', Julie asked.

'Oh, no, no, that's fine. As long as you bring me back a cookie please?', said Emma, grinning.

'Oh alright then, only because you look as if you might wither away sat there in that hospital bed', Julie sighed, kissing Emma on the forehead, before leaving the room saying, 'Call us if you need us!'.

'Will do!', Emma replied as the door to the room shut.

'Sleep well then?', she asked her brother, turning around to face him.

Reid chuckled, replying, 'Yeah actually I did, did you? Are you alright now?', looking slightly concerned as he remembered the state Emma had been in last time he had seen her.

Emma breathed out slowly, before nodding saying, 'Yeah, I think so, now', smiling slightly.

'Well, I just thought I'd let you know, we caught Parker last night. So you don't have to worry about him anymore, he should be locked away for a very long time', Reid informed his sister.

Emma's face relaxed with the relief of hearing this news and she threw her head back against the pillow with happiness.

'Really? He can't hurt us any more?', she whispered

Reid smiled warmly; 'I promise Em'.

Emma just sat there and smiled that not only did she have to worry about Parker haunting her dreams anymore, but also that he would not hurt her brother.

'Hey, by the way, Harry mentioned that your blood pressure was a little high?', Reid said to Emma, pulling her out of her thoughts. As soon as he said this, fear quickly flashed across her eyes, before she composed herself, shrugging saying,

'The doctor said it's probably because of the surgery and everything', as she averted her brother's eyes.

Reid noticed Emma's reaction to this statement, but let it pass, believing it to be nothing. Suddenly, a gust of cold air swept towards Reid from the fan that was on Emma's bedside table, causing him to shiver and pull his jacket tighter around himself.

'Em are you actually warm in this weather?', he exclaimed, looking over at his sister, who had a thick jacket wrapped around her.

'A little bit I suppose', Emma replied, shrugging.

'Why don't you take your jacket off?', Reid suggested. As soon as he said this, Emma looked alarmed, stuttering,

'No, it's alright, I'll just turn the fan off, I'm cooler now'. Reid seemed a little confused by this, but as soon as Emma leaned over to switch off the fan, he understood why. The sleeve of Emma's jacket rolled up her arm to reveal little cuts along Emma's wrist - some were red, but others were little white lines, continuing a few centimetres up her arm. When Reid saw them, a mix of emotions began to run through his mind, fear, panic, confusion, and he couldn't help but stare at his sister's lower arm, despite what he was seeing making him feel dizzy. As soon as Emma noticed her brother's stare, she quickly tugged down the sleeves of her jacket over her wrists and nervously looked at her brother.

It didn't take Reid long to work out that these scars looked too old to have been inflicted by Parker. When he was finally able to look up at his sister, he found that her eyes were glistening with tears and she was looking nervously at him, waiting for his reaction. When no sound came from her brother, Emma whispered,

'I'm sorry', so quietly, that Reid wouldn't have heard it except for the fact that the entire room was filled with silence.

'Why Em?', was Reid's whispered reply, his voice breaking with shock.

Emma took a deep breath, before shakily saying, 'After your last visit, I was cleaning the spare room and I found a photograph. It...it was of me as a baby and you and...and our mum. My head just started spinning, I didn't know what I was feeling when I saw it - shock mostly. I just sat there for hours, and then I felt...I felt sad. I felt like I'd been ripped away from something important. I...I was gonna call you, but when it came to it, I just couldn't. I couldn't tell anyone about it. But I couldn't stop thinking about it for weeks, I've never been so confused. Then I had exams and I just got stressed and, well, I guess it kinda took it's toll on me. The first cut, I didn't even really mean it, it was sort of an accident. But seeing it made me feel like there was one thing in my life I could control and that felt, well that felt good. And after that, I couldn't stop, I tried to, but I just couldn't. And then the doctor said about my blood pressure and I realised I must have cut a blood vessel or something and now I'm just scared and I wish I'd never have done it. I'm so sorry Spence'. Tears had begun to rapidly stream down Emma's cheeks but she didn't wipe them away.

Reid took a deep breath in, digesting what he had just heard, before taking hold of his sister's hand and saying,

'Oh, Em. I'm so sorry too. I'm so sorry I left that photo there and I'm so sorry I haven't been here for you sweetheart, but I promise I will be now', he whispered.

'I...I just feel like you saved me for nothing, like I'm not worth saving because I've let everyone down', Emma said, looking down into her lap.

Reid tilted his sister's chin up so she was looking at him.

'Hey, you have let nobody down, do you hear me. You are so, so brave and do you know why? Because you kept going, not just when you found that photo, but in that warehouse too. And I promise you Em, I am going to help you through this, I won't let you be in pain any more, okay?', Reid said fiercly.

Emma just looked at her brother and nodded, before wrapping her arms around him and pulling him into a hug.

'Thank-you Spence...for everything', she said, her voice shaking slightly less than before.

'Any time', was Reid's reply, as he hugged his sister back tightly.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: <strong>Another chapter done, and with a relatively quick update! Hopefully all of my updates should be this quick from now on too. I think I've planned about two or three more chapters of this story, but I also have plans for a sequel story as well. I hope I wrote about Emma's secret well, I've tried to be delicate about the subject, but I also wanted to make sure Emma's feelings and reasons were portrayed clearly and it's also sort of the first time we realise she isn't perfect. The next few chapters will kind of follow on from it, but I'll be writing about another issue as well. I'd love your feedback, especially since I found this chapter so difficult to write, so please, please REVIEW! Thank-you so much for reading this story, it means so much to me and I should be updating soon! :D


End file.
